The Nome Board of Education has announced the two finalists to be interviewed for the superintendent position: interim superintendent Shawn Arnold and Anvil City Science Academy principal Todd Hindman.

For Arnold, the decision to apply for the full-time position came as he balanced being interim superintendent and the district’s director of human resources and special programs—keeping him quite busy, but in touch with the community he’s called home since July.

“I see this community as my community. I’m a longtime Alaskan and I think I have something to offer this district,” said Arnold.

If he’s chosen for the position, Arnold says many of his priorities mirror the district’s. In the next academic year, all educators will be evaluated on the Alaska Cultural Standards, and he wants the district to succeed at meeting those.

“Better cultural inclusion there within the classrooms, which is something that I really feel [is important]—where we’re not just meeting the students educational needs but we’re also respecting their culture and including their culture within the classroom,” he said.

With some students in the district struggling with reading and writing, Arnold wants to focus more resources on literacy, especially in the younger grades.

“But also expanding our options and opportunities at the high school,” said Arnold. “When Governor Walker visited, he said that we need to be focusing on the career readiness, not just the college readiness, and that’s something that I’m really passionate about—having those options—as many opportunities for our students to succeed.”

Arnold would also like to work more closely with the Bering Strait School District since Nome and BSSD exchange many students throughout the school year. If instructional programs were similar there would be less disruption in those students’ educations.

With 15 years of experience at Nome’s Anvil City Science Academy, Todd Hindman applied to be superintendent to preserve some of the institutional wisdom that’s been lost through high district turnover.

“I was interested in serving as superintendent simply because I think one of the biggest issues that our district faces right now is turnover,” said Hindman. “Just over the past few years we’ve had a lot of turnover in our district knowledge; we’ve lost a lot of institutional knowledge, and I felt it was time we needed to get things back on track.”

Hindman says focusing on professional development would be his biggest goal for the district. After 26 years in education, he says being in front of a class is still one of the most fun, and most important, jobs in the world.

“I just want to make sure our district is focused on classrooms. That’s where our money needs to go, that’s where all of our effort needs to go. That’s where it all begins—it begins with that teacher in the classroom being effective and helping out the kids,” he said.

But he also says program offerings need to be broadened for students on both college and career tracks. However, with the price of oil down under $50 a barrel, Hindman expects the district will need to adapt to significant cuts in state assistance, at least in the coming year.

The two finalists for Nome Schools’ superintendent position will be interview by the board this Thursday evening, with a decision made public soon after.